On June 5, the first presidential debate was held in Iran. This debate only reaffirmed Iranians’ commitment to boycott the election and express support for regime change.
From the MEK Iran, the largest Iranian opposition group, indicate that this election is only a formality. At the beginning 600 candidates were registered. However, only seven so-called “candidates” are currently set to appear on the ballot this month.
Ebrahim Raisi, the regime’s current Judiciary Chief is the favored candidate by the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
During this debate, Raisi and the other candidatesdiscussed the country’s worsening economic problems and the Covid-19 outbreak. The rampant inflation, unemployment, and rising commodity prices that contribute to a situation in which more than 50% of the entire Iranian population is living below the poverty line, were some of the addressed toppics.However, no plan has been offered for the current crises.
The largest opposition group, MEK Iran, has supported the nationwide campaign for boycott of the sham election. In at least 250 locations across the countryMEK’s “Resistance Units” staged public displays in April alone.Their efforts persisted through May and into June.
Demonstrations by pensionerswhose incomeswere diminished to the point of not being able to afford the basic necessities of life and by formerly middle-class individuals whose savings were destroyed by government-run investment scams, were included in the protests supported by the MEK Iran.These and other groups indicated that they will not participate in the June 18 election.MEK’s efforts to promote an electoral boycott are reflected in these protests.
Resistance Unit’s recent protests recall attention to the low voter turnout in the parliamentary elections of 2020. In nearly 200 localities, residents condemned both the “hardline” and the “reformist” factions of the regime and called for its change.
On the annual international gathering of The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which is a coalition of Iranian resistance groups including the MEK Iran, the potential changes in Western foreign policy will be addressed. These changes might support the Iranian people election boycott.
The effectiveness of the MEK Iran electoral boycott campaign and its implications for a possible return of nationwide uprisings will be adressed at the July World Summit on a Free Iran.
“A massive boycott will be a precursor to a looming nationwide uprising waiting in the wings,” said Mr.Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in a conference last month. “And when that happens, it will be far more intense and widespread than in previous years. In a nutshell, for Khamenei, this is a battle of survival”.
He has also said that the time for the West to end its appeasement and adopt a firm approach has come. According to Mr. Mohaddessin, a massive boycott will echo the call by the Iranian people and condemn this illegitimate sham election and will help the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom.
